Best teams have plenty of depth

COLLEGE BASKETBALL really is getting deep. We don't mean Descartes deep. We mean talent-throughout-the-roster deep, the kind that leads to scoring balance, rested starters and no reliance on a particular player, and the kind featured by the nation's top teams.

Not a single player for No. 1 Arizona, No. 2 Pittsburgh, No. 3 Texas or No. 4 Florida is averaging more than 14.6 points a game.

Pittsburgh, which has its No. 2 scorer coming off the bench, beat No. 24 Syracuse by 13 points with the Panthers' best player, Brandin Knight, going scoreless. Florida won by 17 points on the road against Arizona-conqueror Louisiana State on Tuesday even though the Gators' top scorer, Matt Bonner, had just three points. Texas has 10 players averaging more than 13 minutes a game, with its best 3-point shooter coming off the bench. Only a Herculean effort by Nick Collison prevented the Longhorns from winning at Kansas on Monday.

Kansas' lack of depth ruined the Jayhawks against Arizona, which overcame a 20-point deficit to win by 17 on the road.

The top returning scorer for all four top teams is averaging fewer points than he did last season, the most striking being Knight, whose 10.5 average is more than five points lower than last season, and Arizona's Jason Gardner, who's averaging 14.4 after scoring 20.4 a year ago. Yet each probably is playing better than he did last season.

Each of Arizona's top five scorers last season, Gardner, Luke Walton, Salim Stoudamire, Rick Anderson and Channing Frye, has seen his scoring average go down this season, although the team's scoring has increased. Arizona beat Oregon in Eugene without Walton, a preseason All-American. Freshman Hassan Adams is third on the team in scoring, though he averages less than 20 minutes a game and does not start, and Frye is the team's top rebounder and shot- blocker while playing less than 22 minutes a game. Nobody seems bothered.

"What it takes is guys who see the big picture," Arizona coach Lute Olson said.

AROUND THE NATION

LOUISVILLE SLUGGERS: Rick Pitino quietly has guided Louisville to a No. 8 national ranking and the No. 1 spot in this week's RPI computer rankings. The Cardinals (14-1) have won 13 in a row, including an 18-point win over Kentucky.

Although the addition of Kentucky transfer Marvin Stone last month helped, Pitino says the difference was moving Reece Gaines, perhaps the nation's best shooting guard, to point guard in the sixth game. It's similar to what Pitino did at Kentucky in 1996, when, after an early-season loss to Massachusetts, he moved Tony Delk from point guard to off-guard and installed Anthony Epps at the point. The Wildcats won the national title that season with a 34-2 record.

CRISIS MANAGEMENT: Memphis is a mystery. John Calipari's Tigers have wins over Syracuse, Illinois, Villanova and Mississippi, but have losses to Austin Peay, Southern Mississippi, South Florida and Saint Louis, the last one coming last week when the Billikens were 6-9 overall and 0-4 in Conference USA. "The only thing that brings about change is crisis," Calipari said, "and even in a crisis, they'll argue until they almost die. This team could and should win, and it's on my shoulders."

TAMIR ELIGIBILITY ISSUE: A number of people have questioned why Cal's Amit Tamir has just one season of eligibility after this one even though he is a sophomore. NCAA rules stipulate that an athlete who participates in an organized sport after his 21st birthday loses a year of college eligibility in that particular sport. Tamir played for a team in Israel after his 21st birthday before he enrolled at Cal.

"Organized" is defined as any game in which admission is taken or officials are used or uniforms are issued or standings or schedules or rosters are maintained or teams or individuals are sponsored. The rule does not apply if the student participated in a different sport.

HANDLING SUCCESS: Since being ranked No. 1 on Dec. 30, Alabama has lost five of eight games, including its past three. Since touted freshman Kennedy Winston became eligible and joined the team, the Tide is 1-4.

SALT-IN-WOUNDS CATEGORY: UCLA is No. 180 in the current RPI rankings, behind Morehead State, Wagner, Yale and Florida A&M. Coach Steve Lavin keeps his sense of humor about the razzing he takes in opponents' arenas. He said his favorite came last season, when Cal students chanted Pitino's name amid rumors Pitino would replace Lavin. (Best student sign on Saturday at Haas Pavilion: "UCLA turns McDonald's All-Americans into future McDonald's employees.") Lavin expects his team to be booed in its home games this week.

LUKE OUT: Oregon forward Luke Jackson will miss this week's games in Southern California and is questionable for next week's home games against Stanford and Cal after having 13 stitches taken to close a cut on his right hand sustained last week.